The next step
by Kitty Black Cat
Summary: Post Agent Afloat. Sometimes, you only know what you've got 'till you lost it.  which leads to a much needed discussion  bad at summaries sorry


**Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own it 'cause I wouldn't need to read and now write Gibbs/Dinozzo fanfics if I owned it. **

**AN: **Second NCIS fic! Still nervous about this one. I wrote it in an hour and I really hope it's good. I always wanted to write a post Agent Afloat but never imagine it would be this fic. But what can I do? This is what my muse came up with! Hope you enjoyed!

**The next step**

It was good to be back. Boy was it good to be back. Tony almost couldn't believe it. The past four months had been hell…Seriously. He had thought the first month at the Military Academy had been bad, what with the constant hazing and multiple punishments he got but… He had to give it to Vance; he knew how to punish someone well. At least, the Toothpick had reassigned him to DC…most probably because Gibbs made him. Or at least he hoped the reason he was back was Gibbs…..but what if it wasn't? What if his boss didn't want him back. Nah. He was being silly; of course Gibbs wanted him back on his team. Right? I mean he had said he was working on it, right? And sure Tim and Ziva came back quicker but that was simply because Vance didn't dislike them as much, not because of Gibbs….surely.

Leroy Jethro Gibbs took his seconds hand in his. It was good to have him back for real. The younger man's presence had been dearly missed…not that he would ever admit it to anyone else of course. The last four months had been hard on him. His coffee intake had never been higher in his life. He needed caffeine if he was NOT to kill the three idiots he had been stuck with. Alright, so idiot wasn't really the right word but it was just….it was not his team. They weren't even a kilometre close to measuring up to his team. His team was a well oiled machine. And one of the reasons why it was so, was sitting right in front of him, patiently listening to Abby's rambling about what Tony had missed in the last four months. Apparently, the list was quite extensive….which was strange considering he knew for a fact that she had written letters and email to Dinozzo. Anyway, it wasn't important. The important was that the young man was back where he belonged: on Gibbs six.

Tony had missed Abby. Of course he had missed everyone on his team but he had really, really missed Abby. She was truly a ray of sunshine. He had missed her rambling, her excitement, her positive attitude, her Abby-hugs…he would have needed such things on board. Well that or a good Gibbs-headslap. Boy had he missed those headslaps. Every time he had to fight against the urge to get completely plastered (and by the same token most probably fired), he had wished his boss had been there to slap some sense into his nonsense…..if that made sense. Of course, he had needed his boss period. Tony couldn't believe how much he counted on his boss to be there in his every day life. He guessed the old saying was true; you only realise what you have once you've lost it. But now he was back. Now he had his boss back and that meant the world to him. Gibbs had become such a huge part of his life since Tony began at NCIS. He was his boss, his mentor, his friend, his…well his everything really. He was the one who kept him grounded…sane. And boy had he missed him.

The team stayed in the bullpen talking for a while before they decided to call it a night and go out this Friday after work to continue the stories. Suddenly, Tony had no more energy left. And he needed to find a hotel since he gave up his apartment before leaving and that was bothersome. Especially since he really just wanted to go home and a hotel wasn't home. He started to look up hotels phone number on his computer when Gibbs called up to him.

"Dinozzo! Are you coming?"

Tony looked up. "Yeah in a minute boss"

"Dinozzo, if you don't get you butt over here in five seconds, you can take a cab to my house."

"Your house?" The agent asked, startled and hopeful.

"Well yeah! Unless you have a new apartment I don't know about." Gibbs said returning to his senior agent's desk.

"I…Sorry boss. I just figured I'd go to a hotel or something" In retrospect, he should really have seen coming that headslap. He needed to get his head back in the game and fast. "Sorry boss. Don't know what I was saying there. Of course I'm not going to a hotel because you never leave a man behind." It was true. Gibbs had refused twice to let him stay at his place after Tony's boiler incident, but in the end he had welcome Tony home anyway. Gruffly welcomed him, but welcomed him nonetheless.

The drive back to Gibbs house was silent and stomach-wrenching. Tony had missed his boss like hell; however he really hadn't missed his Boss' driving. The silence continued until Tony was sitting on the couch and Gibbs was giving him a beer.

"You know I really missed you boss." Tony said. He knew he was repeating himself but he couldn't help it. Being without Gibbs had been like losing a limb. It had been like being a really bad funambulist walking on a wire with no net underneath him in case he fell. It had been unsettling and an extremely unpleasant experience.

"I know, Dinozzo" Gibbs said simply.

"No I mean, I really missed you. Being far away from you it was….it was hell boss."

"I know" Gibbs had felt the same way. It was like an important part of him was missing.

Tony drank from his beer once more. "I didn't like being far away from you guys. It was like getting sent to boarding school all over again except that this time I was leaving something behind. Something good. And to think I almost lost it…"

"Hey! You were always going to come back"

"Not sure that was Vance's initial plan boss." Tony looked at his boss carefully and saw the truth. Putting Tony back on the MCRT team had not been in Vance's plan.

"What did you do boss? To make him bring me back"

"Nothing. Just made sure he knew you were needed and I didn't intend on having anyone else on my team other than you."

"Am I?" Tony asked, his earlier insecurities coming back. In truth, they weren't new insecurities at all. He had always wondered just how important he really was on the team and the one time he had tried to ask Gibbs…well that had ended up with a statement that he was irreplaceable and a contradicting joke afterwards.

"Are you what?"

"Needed" Gibbs looked at his senior field agent carefully. Tony was looking everywhere but at Gibbs. Gibbs could understand that his agent felt a little unsure after Jenny and four months at sea but he had really hoped he wouldn't. Oh crap. Gibbs would have to talk about feelings wouldn't he?

"Yeah Tony. You're needed. On my team and in my life." There. He had done it. He had talked about feelings right? At least, he hoped it was enough.

"Am I really boss? Because I got to tell you, when Abby told me Tim and Ziva were back on your team and I was still stuck on the Seahawk….I kind of wondered, you know, if you wanted me at all"

That surprised Gibbs. He thought Tony knew how important he was to him. But apparently not. Gibbs sighed. He really would have to talk about feelings wouldn't he? And those feelings too? Not that it was necessary but the tone Tony had when he said living without Gibbs had been hell….maybe those feelings weren't as one-sided as he once thought.

"Listen Tony and listen well because I'm not gonna repeat this. I need you on my team. There wasn't much of a team to have without you there. I want you on my six and no one else and crap I want you in my life to. I want to have you sitting on the bottom step of the stairs and watch me work on the boat, I want to drink beer with you and listen to you talk about your movies. Hell, I just want you here okay? This place…and NCIS…without you, they didn't really feel like home."

Tony looked at Gibbs in puzzlement. That…didn't quite sound like something a friend told another friend. I mean your house not being a home without the other person? Yeah, that totally did not sound like a friendship related sentence.

"Are you saying…What are saying exactly Gibbs? Because I think I might be reading something wrong here."

Gibbs looked straight in his eyes. "I mean you basically said this wasn't your home without me being in it and that doesn't really sound…I mean…" Gibbs raised an eyebrow. "Oh…OH. I see…wow that's….wow. Okay. Uhm let that percolate in my head a little."

Tony moved from his curled position into a more comfortable one. So Gibbs….what? liked him liked him? I mean, it wasn't that Tony hadn't thought of Gibbs that way…I mean Gibbs was hot…and all alpha male which was an attractive quality….but well it was just Tony had never really thought about his relationship with Gibbs before. He hadn't let himself; he knew chances were he would want more if he did. But thinking about it now it felt…right. There wasn't any other word for it.

"You know, when I lost Jeanne, I felt this big gaping hole in my stomach and I thought the pain would never go away. But it did…eventually. But the pain I felt on those boat, when I thought of you, it was so much worse than that. It was like some piece of me had been torn away and I felt so lost. I missed you so much boss."

"I know, Dinozzo. I know" Gibbs gave him a little smile. It looked like Tony was saying the same thing Gibbs had. Tony nodded than looked up at Gibbs. It all made sense. They had been boss/employee, friends and now their relationship had evolved into something more. It really was simply the next logical step in their relationship. It was like all the pieces of the puzzle finally fitted together. "Does it mean I can kiss you now?" Gibbs gave him a look. Slowly Tony pushed himself off the couch and gently put his lips on Gibbs. He had thought he should start with a very simple kiss, but Gibbs had other ideas. He had been thinking about Tony in this way for months, discovering during the younger man's absence that he wanted more from him then what they had before, and now that he had him, there was no way a chaste kiss could be enough.

Gibbs' tongue licked Tony's lips, begging for entrance. The younger man immediately gave in; Gibbs liked that. His tongue battled with Tony's for dominance, clearly winning the fight. His hand gripped the young man's head, the other hand grabbing his waist and pushing him onto Gibbs lap.

"Wow" Tony said as they broke up. "Just wow."

Gibbs smiled. "That's what they all say"

"Yeah well they won't be saying it anymore. This…if we do this…it's just us"

"Wouldn't want anybody else Tony."

"Good." Tony answered. There was no way he could ever share Gibbs now that he had him. "So…wanna go work on the boat."

"Nah. I have another hands-on project to start and I don't think I'm gonna be finished for a while. Actually, I don't plan on ever finishing it." Tony groaned. Little Tony was definitively awake and ready. "You up for it?"

"Boss, you know how 'up' for it I am."

Now it was Gibbs turn to groan. "What? What did I say? No wait….Boss" Tony said in a husky voiced. Gibbs tried to stop himself from moaning. "Don't call me that"

Tony smiled. "Why not Boss. I like calling you Boss. I like you being the Boss, Boss. What's wrong with Boss."

Gibbs glared at him. "Get your ass up the stairs now Dinozzo!" He said loudly in his best Boss voice. "And you better be naked by the time I'm there or you're gonna get what's coming to you!"

"Yes Boss, on it Boss!" Tony exclaimed and ran up the stairs. Gibbs groaned. Darn it. Things would definitively never be the same at work now. Tony and he would need to have a talk about work. But that could wait…tonight, he had better things to do namely one Very Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo.

The End.

AN : I really hoped you liked this! If you did, please review! Feedback is a really good thing to receive plus reviews make me happy.


End file.
